BillyGr wrote: ↑September 27th, 2019, 5:27 pm...
The McDonald's on the NY State Thruway also have conveyors, as the way the buildings were built the drive thru lane runs along the rear of the building (basically on the totally opposite side of the kitchen from the service counter), so they would pack the orders into bags and send those via the conveyor to the drive thru window, rather than the kitchen having to be set up to make items for two separate service areas. They may have separate machines for some things near the drive thru (like drinks), but I'm not totally sure how much duplication they have (or how much would exist normally anyhow, like an extra soda machine, coffee etc.).
That's why the McDonald's I trained at had the drive-thru set up the way they did. During the reconstruction they reconfigured the building. The store I actually worked at was built so that the drive-thru area was adjacent to the service counter. The DT had its own drink station and two registers (one for taking orders and another for taking orders and receiving payment). It is always fun to see how the drive-thru has evolved over the years.
There is a McDonalds in North Vancouver, BC where the drive through is on a different "level" than the actual restaurant. So there is a system to carry the food up to the drive through to be distributed. Not sure how drinks are handled.
Also a Chickfila in Fairfield, CA with two drive through lanes. One of the lanes is literally a little booth across from the building. They have a system there like a drive through bank to carry orders "up" from the main building over the first drive through lane and then down to the little booth. The booth has a soda machine. I wonder how milkshakes are handled. Or ice cream cones.
Interesting. Most McDonald's here now have the two speaker system, but I don't know any true double drive thrus. The only places around here with them are McD's and BK. Never used the one at BK so I don't know how the windows are setup.
Most Wendy's here were built in the mid 2000s, single speaker. The one in my town doesn't seem to ever use the first window to take money, they do it all at the second.
The Taco Bells around here are all 2016 or newer and none have more than one speaker or window.
I saw a remodeled older 1996 era McDonald's today with 3 windows. The first window was not used and was filled with old junk equipment. I assume that this was the original order window. The second window is used for payment and the third is used for pickup. This restaurant was remodeled in the past couple of years, but strangely enough they kept the large 2 story atrium with an indoor playground. In fact, the main seating area was in the atrium sharing space with the indoor playground. It was so noisy with screaming kids playing, that it was an absolutely awful place to dine. I can see why everyone wants to get food to go. This restaurant also had 2 Coke Freestyle machines. This is the first time that I have seen these Coke Freestyle machines in McDonald's restaurants in Northern California. All of the McDonald's in the rest of the area use traditional soda fountains.
I agree that Taco Bell has the worst drive thru setup. The single line and single window causes the line to back up so much. I have witnessed countless people yell at the employees about the wait time. I have spent close to 35 minutes in line so many times, that I now drive to another city if I ever want to get Taco Bell. I have seen cars back out of the drive thru because the line was so long. That is no easy feat as multiple cars have to back out in agreement. People were yelling at each other telling each other to back out. The lines are so long especially after 11 PM when the drive through is the only place you can order. The indoor area closes at 11 PM. The employees tell me that all of the people in line late at night seem like they are drunk. This place attracts all sorts of drunk people. I have seen people walk through the drive thru on foot and try to order at the window. It actually worked several times.
